Software Install Requirements

  • Article

This topic describes the software required to use XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh.

XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh

To download XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh, go to App Hub.

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh leverages the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 development environment, extending it for game development. XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh works with any of the following Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 products.

  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone
  • Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express Edition
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional Edition

Both Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone and XNA Game Studio 4.0 Refresh are provided as part of the Microsoft Windows Phone SDK 7.1 download.

Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express Edition does not support Windows Phone development with XNA Game Studio. To develop for Windows Phone, you should download Microsoft Windows Phone SDK as specified above. You can, however, still use Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express Edition to develop games for Xbox 360 and Windows.

Note

Only members of the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 product line support XNA Game Studio 4.0. XNA Game Studio 4.0 is incompatible with Visual Studio 2008 or previous editions.

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

XNA Game Studio requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0. The setup program for Microsoft Windows Phone SDK installs the .NET Framework if it is not installed already on your computer. You also can install the .NET Framework separately from the Microsoft .NET Framework Developer Center.

Additional Required Software Installed by Setup

The XNA Game Studio setup program also installs the following required software.

DirectX Runtime

XNA Game Studio setup installs the DirectX runtime, which is required to use the XNA Framework Game API.

Microsoft Cross-platform Audio Creation Tool

XNA Game Studio Setup installs multiple versions of the Microsoft Cross-platform Audio Creation Tool (XACT). You can use XACT to author audio content for your game. Games written using XNA Framework 3.1 and later are required to use XACT 3 projects, which are not backward compatible. Games written using XNA Framework 3.0 are required to use XACT 2 projects.

Games for Windows - LIVE

XNA Game Studio Setup installs the Microsoft Games for Windows - LIVE Redistributable, version 2.0.687.0. This software provides support for various gamer services such as retrieving player preferences for local accounts, as well as programmatically displaying various LIVE Guide user interface screens.